Sox's Peavy driven to pitch even better

'I'm healthy, but I keep telling myself I have a lot to prove'

The strength regained in Jake Peavy's right shoulder provided some compensation for the tough losses on and off the field in the last seven months.

"A few years ago, I didn't know if this would ever be possible," Peavy said of his injury-free 2012. "I figured (it) might have been my last year if I couldn't get any healthier than I was the previous years."

For Peavy, rebounding from a career-threatening injury 19 months ago to throw 219 innings and make 32 starts for the White Sox helped restore some semblance of normalcy to an otherwise hectic time in his life.

Peavy, 31, who lost one of his pitching mentors, Darrel Akerfelds, to cancer and 76-year-old grandmother Mary Dama Lolley during the last seven months, enters this season with the security of a two-year, $29 million contract and the drive to perform better than he did to earn his financial security.

"This offseason has been wonderful for me," said Peavy, who held his first charity golf tournament in his native Alabama and plans to continue to honor military troops as well as resume a mini-concert this spring in Arizona with Giants pitcher Barry Zito. "There has been a lot of down time, time to exhale and take it all in from the start of the season, reflect on it all. You get in a good frame of mind and then you get through the holidays with the family, and the hunger starts to come back and you look forward to what we can accomplish.

"So I'm excited. I spent a lot of family time with my (three) boys and getting sad about leaving them (for spring training), but I'm excited about what the future holds."

Peavy looks forward to 2013 because of his continued recovery from a detached latissimus dorsi muscle near his right shoulder. His velocity was down slightly last season, but his durability returned without any extra rest or special medication. His comfort since joining the Sox in the middle of the 2009 season was a big reason he elected to return instead of landing a more lucrative contract elsewhere.

"We knew going in the free-agent market would be like it was," Peavy said. "I knew when I signed there was going to be a day (Zack) Greinke and Edwin Jackson (signed more lucrative contracts) and Kyle Lohse still to come with huge paydays, that wasn't what I was after.

"I was after being right here where I'm comfortable. There's a sense, personally here for me and team wise, there's just unfinished business here."

Said manager Robin Ventura: "I still feel we were lucky to get Jake back."

And Peavy plans to speak up once the Sox's pitching staff is set in spring training.

"When it's time to go, when we have our 12 guys, I will be very vocal in that meeting and say, 'Guys, I'm going to tell you right now,' " Peavy said. " 'If this thing is going to get done, it's going to come down to us 12 in this room,' and obviously a few more when guys have injuries. We like our staff."

Peavy isn't taking his health for granted.

"I can't ever give in to 'I've gotten there' or 'I've turned the corner,' '' Peavy said. "I'm scared of that slip-up, that letdown in my work ethic and stuff that I have to do. I just can't let myself get there. I threw 219 innings. I'm healthy, but I keep telling myself I have a lot to prove, and that's the way to keep me going.''

Two possible sources of motivation are that Peavy was 4-7 with a 4.00 ERA after the All-Star break and 1-3 with a 5.63 ERA in six starts against the American League-champion Tigers.

Reflecting on past games "consumes me, especially if I don't have anyone here or my kids here to take my mind off anything," Peavy said. "I just take it home with me and kill myself over a pitch and sit there and dwell on it all night. That gets unhealthy. So in the winter, I don't want any negative thoughts leading up to this year about games that went bad."

The offseason escape for Peavy is following Alabama football as a season ticket holder.

"Growing up where I grew up without a professional sports team, Alabama football is your favorite team, period," said Peavy, who now lives outside of the Tuscaloosa campus. "Getting to have our off-time is when that's getting revved up.

"It's an outlet for me. It's something my entire family gets into. It's a pastime. It has been fun for all of us. It's a good run."